


Letters from my Niece

by baroque_mongoose



Category: Girl Genius
Genre: Gen, Letters, POV Child, POV First Person, Uncle-Niece Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-02
Updated: 2014-11-02
Packaged: 2018-02-23 19:46:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2553341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baroque_mongoose/pseuds/baroque_mongoose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a few letters from young Harriet Wooster to her absent Uncle Ardsley.  She does seem to be something of a chip off the old block.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Letters from my Niece

Dear Uncle Ardsley – Thank you so very much for the beautiful construction set you sent me for Christmas; it was exactly what I wanted. How did you guess? I did, I confess, try building a little clank, but since I am not a spark I could not make it walk or talk, so I followed the instructions in the set to build the basic steam engine and I have learnt a lot from that. I think I can see how to adapt it to power a sewing machine. I want to build my own because Mother won't let me use hers, and I don't mind sewing most of the time but long seams are very boring.

We were all sorry you were unable to be with us for Christmas. I know that being a diplomat is a very important job, but if it's really as important as all that, they should let you have proper holidays and come home sometimes. I'm sure someone else could do it for a little while. And Father said it was especially a pity you weren't there when we came to sing the carols, because you have a good singing voice. I haven't seen you for so long I've forgotten what your voice sounds like, Uncle Ardsley. I hope you get to come home very soon.

We did have a good party, though. We had a fat goose and everything else you could imagine, and several of my other aunts and uncles came round, including Great-Aunt Emmeline, who sends her thanks, by the way, for your very thoughtful gift, and will write to you as soon as her hand is better. I'm afraid she caught her sleeve on a candle and suffered some burns. Nothing too serious, for which we are all thankful, but she cannot write for a little while.

Mother won't tell me what she and Father sent you for Christmas, so I think I can guess, and I hope it's nice and warm and it fits properly.

Your loving and affectionate niece – Harriet.

\---

Dear Uncle Ardsley – Thank you for your letter! It arrived just as I was about to go back to school, so it was something to cheer me up. I'm so glad you managed to have a good Christmas after all. Mother and Father don't seem to be very happy about the Jägers, but I think they sound lovely. The way you write about them makes it clear that they are good friends, whatever they look like. Incidentally, I am quite curious about what they look like. I know they are all different colours, but do they have different coloured eyes as well?

I will tell you a little secret, Uncle Ardsley; you must promise not to tell anyone. You see, I was really starting to hate my pigtails, so on the train to school I went out into the corridor on my own and cut them off and threw them out of the window, and then I wound my scarf tightly round my neck so no-one would see. When I got to school I tidied up the ends as best I could, which wasn't too bad really because I used two mirrors, and threw the rest of the trimmings in the fire. So now everyone thinks I have just had a short haircut, and when I go home at the end of term I shall say Lucinda cut them off, which they will believe because she was always pulling them. Well, she can't pull them now, can she? I expect she will find some other way to annoy me very soon, because she is like that, but I have had enough of Lucinda and I think she is about to find that out.

I'm still not enjoying school. It's not the lessons; the things we have to learn are mostly quite interesting. It's all the silly rules. I don't see why it's so important to sit with my back straight all the time, and I don't see why a lady doesn't run. It seems to me that there are so many things ladies don't do that it is a waste of time to be a lady. And then there's Lucinda, and as far as I can see, a lady doesn't pull people's pigtails or say nasty spiteful things either, but nobody ever seems to be worried about that.

I'm sorry to be a little gloomy at you, but I'm afraid I always am when I go back to school. I'm going to think about your friends the Jägers. That will cheer me up.

Your loving and affectionate niece – Harriet.

PS I am so glad it fits.

\---

Dear Uncle Ardsley – It was sweet of you to write back so soon. Yes, I am feeling so much happier now; I am top of the class at the moment, and we have a new teacher called Miss Evans who is not nearly so strict as Miss Henderson was. Thank you, also, for answering my question. So Dimo has golden eyes! How can he be ugly if he has golden eyes? I really can't picture him in my mind now at all.

Mother has also written. She's talking about buying me a corset. I don't imagine for a moment that I'm supposed to tell you that, but I'm going to, because I would like you to help me get out of it. I don't see why I should have to have a corset. I think they look very uncomfortable. So maybe, if you know any ladies in Europa who don't wear them, you could write to Mother and perhaps drop the fact into the letter somehow? You won't have to ask if they are not wearing them, Uncle; you just have to look and you will see that they are not all pinched in. I know you would never ask a lady a rude question like that, and I wouldn't want you to start for my sake.

Oh, and that reminds me. Don't you know a lady who wears trousers? I should love to do that. It would make things so much easier. But I'm afraid Mother would have one of her turns and send Jane off for the sal volatile if I did. I shall do it when I am grown up, though; I'm sure I shall.

That was good advice you gave me about Lucinda. You're quite right; I shall never beat her in a physical fight, but I certainly have got more brains than she has. So I'm now looking for a chance to use them. Don't give me any more hints. I want to work this one out for myself.

Oh! I nearly forgot to tell you! Next year we are going to start learning Greek. You did that at Cambridge, didn't you? Well, that and Latin, of course. What did you think of it?

I hope you are all right over there. Father doesn't like the idea that you are living in caves, even if they are very comfortable as you say. He says the air is damp and tends to cause melancholia. (I spelt that word all by myself, Uncle Ardsley.) You must make sure you go for healthful walks regularly, and be careful of your chest.

Your loving and affectionate niece – Harriet.

\---

Dear Uncle Ardsley – Oh, thank you! How very kind of you to send the Greek textbooks; I really wasn't expecting that. Are they an early birthday present? I know the alphabet now, and a few words, so I shall be well ahead by the time we start properly. It looks like an interesting language.

I'm glad to hear you haven't got melancholia, but you _do_ sound bored. I hope you get something more exciting to do soon. It seems very puzzling that you have been living in the caves for so long; I'm sure the Jägers don't need as much diplomacy as that.

I don't know what you said to Mother, but she's now decided I am too young to be put into a corset just yet, so if that was your doing, thank you. Some of the girls in my form are wearing them already, though. I keep having to help Lettice into hers, and she _will_ have me lace it as tightly as possible so that she looks as though she's about fifteen. I'm surprised she can still breathe.

I am _so_ glad to hear that the lady who wears trousers is the Lady Heterodyne herself. If she can wear them, I am quite sure anyone can. How did you meet her, Uncle Ardsley? I'm starting to think I might like to be a diplomat myself. Even if it can be boring at times, one does meet some very interesting people.

Oh, and I got the better of Lucinda. She tried to get me into trouble with Miss Evans by spilling ink on one of my books, so that it would look as though I had done it; but I had been just been reading about one of the cases solved by the ingenious Mr Sherlock Holmes (have you met him too? I should not be surprised), and so when Miss Evans came into the room I said, “That won't work, Lucinda. You've left your fingerprints all over it.” Of course nobody had any way of proving that, but her face gave her away quite satisfactorily anyway. She has left me alone since.

Please say hallo to the Jägers for me, especially Dimo and Maxim and Oggie. I should like to meet them all one day.

Your loving and affectionate niece – Harriet.

\---

Dear Uncle Ardsley – You didn't quite answer my question about how you met the Lady Heterodyne, but that was a very interesting little story nonetheless. I loved reading about the Castle, though it sounded rather scary. Were you surprised when you found it could talk?

Yes, Lucinda is still leaving me alone, I'm happy to say. Unfortunately she is not leaving other people alone, and I don't like to see that. I'm still working on what I am going to do about her, but I think you will be hearing more of her in the future.

I had a little bit of an accident earlier this week. I sprained my ankle playing lacrosse. We still won, though. It's all strapped up and I am on crutches, but it's not really painful unless I put any weight on it, and I can sleep all right. So you don't have to worry about me. Besides, I don't mind not being able to play lacrosse, though I hope it's better by the time we start playing tennis. I prefer tennis.

We have a new girl in our form. Her name is Yuki, and she comes all the way from Japan. She speaks excellent English, though. She is rather quiet, but she is friendly when we talk to her. I like her. Her father is the Japanese Ambassador, so I told her that you were a diplomat too, but not an Ambassador. Perhaps you'll be one of those one day, though of course I didn't say that to Yuki as it would have sounded like boasting.

It's half term this weekend, so we are all going to be allowed into town, not just the senior girls. I'm going with Lettice. I shall see if I can get hold of some more parts so that I can build that steam-powered sewing machine I told you about after Christmas.

I hope things are still all right, and that they get more interesting soon. Love to the gentlemen of the Jägerkin.

Your loving and affectionate niece – Harriet.

\---

Dear Uncle Ardsley – No, honestly, it was nothing. I knew you were getting so very bored in the caves, so I thought that while I was in town with Lettice I should get you something to read. I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Besides, you sent me those Greek textbooks out of the blue when it wasn't my birthday or anything, so now we are even, I think.

I did get the parts I wanted, and I have managed to build the engine without anyone noticing, but the sewing machine itself is going to be a little more tricky. I think I shall have to swear Lettice to secrecy, although this may mean I have to daunt her slightly, because she can be giddy. Can you imagine what she bought in town, Uncle? A huge ornate fan made out of ostrich feathers! I cannot see that she could possibly have any occasion to use such an elaborate thing, but she thinks it is wonderful, and I suppose if she is happy with it, that is the most important matter.

As for Lucinda, she has started coming to me for help with her Latin prep, so that problem has rather solved itself. We have an agreement now that she can have the help on condition that she has not bullied anyone since the last time the question of helping her arose. I have not, of course, told anyone else of this agreement, because naturally a lot of people dislike her, and it would make it too easy for them to get revenge on her by falsely accusing her. I will not have that either. Fair is fair.

The ankle is a little better now, thank you for asking, but it will be a few weeks. I am quite all right. I have made an amusing discovery; if you have a crutch and a ball of worsted yarn, you can turn the crutch into an impromptu loom and weave bookmarks with the aid of a darning needle. I have made several for my friends. I even made one for Lucinda, since she brought me some yarn and asked very politely. Yuki embroidered Japanese characters on hers. Did you know they are called kanji? She told me they meant “friendship” and “hope”. There is one for you in this letter, to go in your book.

Please thank Maxim very much on my behalf for the little carved cat ornament. Is it really amethyst? I've never seen amethysts except cut and polished for jewellery. But it is very pretty, and Maxim is most talented. You did say he was purple, so I like to think of him carving it as a scene in monochrome. I would write to him myself, but I don't know his other name.

I'm glad I wasn't playing lacrosse this morning. You should have seen the rain!

Your loving and affectionate niece – Harriet.

\---

Dear Uncle Ardsley – Oh, I am so glad that you are going to get out of the caves at last! I nearly danced when I got your letter. So you are going on one of the Corbettite trains? I am quite envious, I declare! You must tell me all about it, and I want all the detail, mind.

I am even more glad that you are coming home to England, though I could wish you had a clearer idea when you were likely to arrive. I suppose there is no chance that you will get here in time for my birthday? Probably not, I suppose, if you have to go via Paris.

But I do notice that you are a little vague about some of the details, and that is not like you, Uncle. I gather that you are going to be escorting someone, but whom? Or is that one of those tiresome diplomatic secrets? Perhaps I should not ask. Whoever it is, and whatever exactly this is all about, I hope you have a safe and comfortable journey and get home as soon as ever you can. I know Father is missing you a great deal. He still sometimes refers to you as his little brother, you know, though not when he thinks I can hear.

I expect you will miss the Jägers, though, and I will also miss hearing about them. I wish I had been there when you tried to teach them to play cricket! But, of course, without the right equipment, what can one expect? I still hope to be able to meet them one day, especially Maxim; it really was so sweet of him to carve me that little ornament when we have never even met. Mother says the Jägers are formidable and terrifying soldiers, but I don't see how they can be so very terrifying when one of them is prepared to sit and carve a gift for a little girl just because she is his friend's niece.

As for me, the ankle is still improving nicely, though I still need one crutch. So is the Greek, but Yuki is now also teaching me some Japanese. I know you speak a lot of languages, but I can't remember if Japanese is one of them.

And... you're right about Lucinda, Uncle. I'm not going to tell Mother and Father she cut off my pigtails, because she might get into trouble and that wouldn't be right. When I go home, I'm going to own up. I expect I'll get into a lot of trouble, but at any rate they can't put the pigtails back, so I won't mind. Well, I'll mind for a little while, but not for ever.

I think I'll have to wait to build the sewing machine till I get home at the end of term. But when I do, the first thing I'm going to make is a pair of trousers, and I'm going to call them my Lady Heterodyne trousers. So I suppose I had better give them a lot of pockets, because she's a powerful spark, isn't she? I've never heard of a spark who didn't have a lot of pockets, for tools and such. I do sometimes wish I were a spark, although I know it can make life difficult.

You're my favourite uncle, even though I haven't seen you for ages. I hope we'll all see you soon.

Your loving and affectionate niece – Harriet.


End file.
